CLIMATE-INDUCED CONFLICTS: THE UN’S LEGAL OBLIGATION TO PREVENT RESOURCE WARS UNDER CHAPTER VII

AUTHOR – RAMAN PANWAR* & DR. RAMAKANT TRIPATHI**

* STUDENT AT LAW COLLEGE DEHRADUN, UTTARANCHAL UNIVERSITY, DEHRADUN, UTTARAKHAND, INDIA 

** LAW COLLEGE DEHRADUN, UTTARANCHAL UNIVERSITY, DEHRADUN, UTTARAKHAND, INDIA

BEST CITATION – RAMAN PANWAR & DR. RAMAKANT TRIPATHI, CLIMATE-INDUCED CONFLICTS: THE UN’S LEGAL OBLIGATION TO PREVENT RESOURCE WARS UNDER CHAPTER VII, INDIAN JOURNAL OF LEGAL REVIEW (IJLR), 5 (10) OF 2025, PG. 240-254, APIS – 3920 – 0001 & ISSN – 2583-2344.

Abstract

This research provides an analysis of the legal obligations placed upon the UN, especially under Chapter VII of the UN Charter, to wrestle with and avert conflicts spawned by climate changes occasioned by resource scarcity. Climate change being the aggravating factor, it is more and more becoming a threat multiplier among existing vulnerabilities resulting in violent confrontations over the shrinking resources of water, arable lands, and mother food. Based on interdisciplinary evidence, including case studies on Darfur, Syria, and the Lake Chad Basin, the study provides strong empirical and legal foundations by way of an interdisciplinary approach to interpret climate-driven instability as a genuine “threat to the peace” under Article 39. Considering the evolutions in Security Council practice, academic and legal literature, and recent advisory proceedings before the International Court of Justice and the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, the study advances the idea that environmental degradation is within Security Council discretion for preventive intervention. Even if sorrows and political opposition arise from some states, the Charter language could be flexibly used to lay down binding enforcement measures like sanctions and peacekeeping missions against a climate-sensitive conflict. It concludes that adapting existing legal formulations to contemporary ecological realities is a matter of legal necessity and political expediency and suggests the next steps toward operationalizing climate-security nexus within the UN legal framework. This, in turn, would increase institutional responsibility to take action before escalating environmental stressors transform into armed conflicts.

Keywords: Climate-induced conflict, Resource wars, UN Charter Chapter VII, Article 39, Climate security, Environmental degradation, International peace, security